California regulators slash community solar incentives

SOLAR: California regulators side with utilities and adopt rules slashing compensation for community solar providers and subscribers, raising concerns for the program’s future viability. (CalMatters)

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ALSO:

• Nevada advocates expect a $156 million federal grant to kickstart its community solar program aimed at low-income residents. (Nevada Current)
• California lawmakers advance a bill that would restore the ability of schools and multifamily building owners to use power generated from their rooftop solar systems. (Independent)
• Developers prepare to begin clearing thousands of protected Joshua trees in southern California to make way for a utility-scale solar installation, drawing protests from advocates and residents. (Los Angeles Times)
• The Spokane Tribe of Indians considers installing a solar array on a defunct uranium mine. (Fox 28)

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TRANSITION: New Mexico regulators approve a utility’s proposed solar-plus-storage projects, even though they lie outside the school district most in need of revenue after the 2022 San Juan coal plant closure. (NM Political Report)

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GRID: California energy officials expect 18.5 gigawatts of battery energy storage capacity added to the grid in recent years to lower the risk of outages this summer, but warn unanticipated events could still knock out power. (Bloomberg)

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UTILITIES:

• Oregon regulators reject PacifiCorp’s request to cap utilities’ wildfire damage payouts by excluding noneconomic damages from penalties. (OPB)
• Hawaiian Electric unveils its public safety power shutoff plan aimed at mitigating wildfire hazard with a scheduled July 1 launch date. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

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CLIMATE: Washington conservative groups ramp up spending on a campaign to rescind the state’s new carbon cap-and-invest program. (Crosscut)

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OIL & GAS:

• Environmental groups sue the Biden administration over its conclusion that an 800-mile liquefied natural gas export pipeline in Alaska would not harm polar bears or whales. (Courthouse News Service)
• Colorado air quality regulators renew a Denver-area petroleum refinery’s operating permits with heightened restrictions, but advocates say they don’t go far enough to limit pollution. (Colorado Sun)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management reaffirms 51 Trump-era oil and gas leases in Utah following environmentalists’ lawsuit looking to overturn them. (news release)

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COAL:

• The U.S. EPA orders Colorado regulators to rework an underground coal mine’s operating permit and fix deficiencies related to curbing smog-forming pollutants. (E&E News, subscription; news release)
• A federal lawmaker from Montana pens legislation that would transfer off-reservation coal to the Crow Tribe in an effort to keep the Signal Peak mine operating longer. (Billings Gazette)

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WIND: Federal regulators extend the public comment period on proposed offshore wind leasing and development along Oregon’s coast. (KOBI)

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POLLUTION: A California court orders the Port of Los Angeles and a shipping company to implement pollution control measures, resolving a decades-long legal battle waged by residents and environmental justice advocates. (news release)

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COMMENTARY: A California columnist calls state regulators’ decision to trim incentives for community solar “the latest stain” on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s climate record. (Los Angeles Times)

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